Lama calls “innermost awareness,” the basic and ever-present
nature of mind we can discover right now in the gaps between
our thoughts.
BECOMING WISE
An Inquiry into the Mystery
and Art of Living
By Krista Tippett
Penguin 2016; 304 pp., $28 (paper)
In Becoming Wise, Krista Tippett
distils the insights she has gleaned
from asking questions of extraor-
dinary thinkers over the course of
her career as a broadcaster, with a
focus on conversations from her
NPR show On Being. “I’m a person
who listens for a living,” she says.
“I listen for wisdom and beauty, and for voices not shouting to
be heard.” In conversation with scientists, theologians, poets,
and activists, Tippett explores the many dimensions of what it
means to be human .—“places where we pay essential human-
ity an attention unmatched in our other disciplines—our
capacities to love and take joy, our capacities to damage and
deceive, the inevitability of failure and finitude, the longing to
be of service.”
WHAT IS ZEN?
Plain Talk for a Beginner’s Mind
By Norman Fischer and Susan Moon
Shambhala 2016; 208 pp., $15.95 (paper)
In What Is Zen?, Buddhist teacher
Zoketsu Norman Fischer and author
Susan Moon survey Zen philosophy
and practice in a reader-friendly,
question-and-answer format. Both
playing with and challenging each
other, Moon and Fisher discuss his-
tory, theory, meditation, and Zen
wisdom on contemporary issues. “This book is a conversation
between old dharma friends,” writes Moon, “but it’s not sym-
metrical; it’s a question-and-answer conversation. I’m the Q
and Norman is the A.” Moon’s line of questioning is simple,
direct, and personal, which allows Fischer to more deeply and
thoroughly examine his long-held beliefs, resulting in a more
intimate dialogue. With something for both beginners and
longtime practitioners, this book is a window into today’s Zen.
LION’S ROAR | MAY 2016 79